1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to curved building panels made from sheet materials, building structures made using such curved building panels, and a panel curving system for fabricating curved building panels.
2. Background Information
Conventional methods are known in the art for forming non-planar building panels made from sheet material, e.g., galvanized steel sheet metal. Such building panels can be attached side-by-side to form self-supporting building structures by virtue of the strength of the building panels themselves. That is, such building panels can exhibit a moment of inertia suitable to provide enough strength under applied loads (e.g., snow, wind, etc.) so that supporting beams or columns within the building structure are unnecessary.
Such building panels can be conventionally curved in the longitudinal direction (along the length of the panel) by imparting transverse corrugations into the building panel, i.e., wherein the corrugations are oriented substantially in a direction that is transverse to the longitudinal direction. These transverse corrugations cause the length of the corrugated portion of the building panel to shrink in the longitudinal direction along the panel relative to non-corrugated portions of the building panel, thus causing the building panel to form into an arched shape along its length. Such arched building panels can then be attached side-by-side to create a building structure.
The present inventors have observed that forming transverse corrugations in a building panel can significantly weaken a building panel. Additionally, the corrugations can lead to unwanted loss of protective coatings such as paint in corrugated regions of the building panel and can aesthetically detract from a smooth appearance. The present inventors have also observed that attempting to form a longitudinal curve in building panel without imparting transverse corrugations will typically lead to, or require, buckling in some areas of the building panel and that such buckled areas can also significantly reduce the strength of the building panel.